Distorted Reflection
by Estrelle Buscador
Summary: Yugi never really took the time to realize how crazy his life was or that all of his work would help send his closest friend away - he was always too busy. But the night before the Ceremonial Duel, it all comes crashing down on him. Oneshot.


Greetings Readers!

It's been a long time, hasn't it? But I am back, and here's another oneshot! This takes place the night before the Ceremonial Duel.

I'd like to dedicate this to **PurpleWildcat2010**, whose recent reviews have inspired me to get back into the Yu-Gi-Oh fanfic game. For her, and for all of you, I hope you enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh, or any of its characters.

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><p>Yugi gave the Phar-Atem a reassuring smile before fading into the Millennium Puzzle, to let the Pharaoh prepare his own deck for the duel tomorrow. <em>Our last duel<em>, Yugi thought to himself and bit his lip as he blocked the mind link so that his friend wouldn't panic and come to figure out what was wrong. He found himself standing alone in the Puzzle, feeling very alone and self-conscious as he stood in the one beam of light in the dark mysteriousness of the Puzzle. Not for the first time, he wondered how the spirit had been able to survive in the bleakness for thousands of years. _And just think,_ he reminded himself morosely, _this is when he's still here. Think what it'll be like after tomorrow –_

Yugi shuddered and shook the thought out of his head. But more thoughts returned, with even more potency and sadness. _I don't __want__ to duel him. If I win, then he'll be gone._ Yugi again shook himself and decided, for the good of both him and Yam-Atem, it'd be better if he went outside to clear his head a little.

Holding his breath and concentrating hard, Yugi was able to create a ghostly body, like Yami had done so often before, and wafted out of the door and to the edge of the boat. The Pharaoh, luckily, was himself so focused on crafting his deck that he didn't even notice Yugi slipping out the door.

Even though he didn't need to, Yugi took a deep gulp of air and let the salt air sooth his frazzled spirit before continuing on his trek to the edge of the boat. Hearing stifled tears outside Téa's bedroom, he peeked through the window and saw her sitting at a bedside tables, tears slowly running down her face as she looked at a small photo album of the gang. Every now and then, when the sobs looked most likely to escape, she reached up with her free hand and clutched at the cartouche around her neck with such intensity that her knuckles were white. Seeing the girl he'd had a crush on for years in such distress made his heart clench and he nearly went in to comfort her, but upon remembering that no one but Yami could see him, he stifled the impulse and kept on his journey. _Besides, _he thought with a tinge of sorrow and bitterness, _I'm not really the one she wants to see, anyway._

The galley was lit up, its light spilling out onto the open deck, and Yugi noticed two shadows moving about. Craning his ears, he heard his two best friends talking and peeked around the corner to see what they were doing. As usual, both Tristan and Joey were shoveling food into their mouths, something that was going to seriously deplete their breakfast resources, but they weren't doing so with their usual unbridled enthusiasm. There was still food on the table when Tristan pushed his plate away and leaned back in his chair.

"You worried about tomorrow?"

Joey actually swallowed the wad of chicken in his mouth before answering, "Nope – Yugi's going to do great!"

Yugi smiled at the thumbs-up his best friend was sporting and at his confidence, but the smile drooped slightly when Tristan nodded and said, "Yeah, he will – but it's going to be weird, isn't it? The Pharaoh not being around?"

Joey's expression fell. "Yeah. But it's what he's gotta do, ya know?"

The two then began heckling each other about the same old things, more to break up the solemn silence than anything else, but Yugi slipped away, their words lodged sharply in his heart. He continued walking to the edge of the boat and leaned his ethereal but somehow solid arms against the railing. Yugi knew that when he was in spirit form, his reflection couldn't be seen, but he could have sworn that he could see his own reflection in the back current of the ship, wavy and distorted and unstable.

_That feels appropriate_, Yugi thought and then laughed ruefully at himself. He'd never much delved into the angst most teenagers were susceptible to, at least according to most of the adults he'd met. He'd never had the time – most of his most interesting teenage years had been spent saving the world through card games, facing megalomaniacs, and helping the Pharaoh find his memories. But now, when everything had slowed down just before the final bang, in the calm before the storm – he was beginning to slip into a depressed state. It wasn't so much that everything was over, it was what was going to happen once everything was over.

_I don't want Yami to have to leave._

Yugi knew he was being selfish, and for once, he didn't particularly care. Yami had been a big part of his life – a big part of everyone's lives – and saying goodbye made him slightly sick to his stomach. _Why can't I be strong like you, Yami?_ He questioned the wavy reflection that, if he squinted his eyes, looked a lot like Yami. _I know that this is for the best –_

But was it for the best? Ishizu said so, but Yugi had trouble seeing how this could be so. It wouldn't be the best for Tristan – he looked up to Yami, trusted him with advice and trusted him with their lives. It wouldn't be the best for Joey – Yami was one of his 'best buds' and had saved him in the duel with Yami Marik.

And Téa – Yugi sighed – Téa loved Yami. Yugi couldn't lie, it had hurt that the girl he liked for years had a major crush on his other self. That's one of the reasons, he was sure, that she was so willing to help Yami so long ago when Yugi had tricked the two of them into going out on a date. It had hurt, but Yugi had understood, even though he'd been able to shove away and pretty much forget the hurt in the wake of all the things the gang had had to face. Still, it hurt whenever she called for Yugi, because he was sure that most of the time she really wanted Yami.

But Yami deserved to go back – he'd sacrificed too much not to be allowed to rest peacefully in the Afterlife with his friends and family. But…none of Yugi's friends deserved the heartache that would come when Yami would leave.

Yugi grimaced at the headache he was experiencing and held his head tightly in both hands. This wasn't something he had to think about; he had to help Yami get back to the Afterlife – he'd promised.

But maybe there was some other way. Yugi perked up. Maybe there was a way for them to seal all the Items away but still let the Pharaoh leave for the Afterlife without having to leave right away. But…he didn't know how.

He drove his fists into the railing with irritation. There had to be something he could do – if only he could take the Pharaoh's place. His friends needed Yami a lot more than they needed him!

/Aibou, you're not even close./

/What?/ Yugi turned around quickly to see Yami standing behind him, arms crossed and an amused-but-scolding look on his face. Yugi was surprised to see that Yami's appearance hadn't caused some sort of loud reaction from Tristan and Joey, but then saw that the galley was dark. More time must have passed than Yugi had thought. He looked back at Yami. "Shouldn't you be finishing your deck?"

Yami came forward and stood beside Yugi, looking out into the water. "I was, for the most part. But then I heard you through the mind link and – well, I felt this was more important to address."

_I've got to work on closing the mind link better_, Yugi thought, and then felt a pang of sadness as he realized that it wouldn't be necessary for much longer. "It's no big deal, Yami, I'm just taking some time to think."

"You're thinking ridiculous things, Yugi," Yami said solemnly, "If you ever sacrifice yourself again, I don't think any of your friends would be able to take it – it nearly broke us the last time."

Yugi felt like kicking himself when he saw the glint of guilt in the Pharaoh's regal eyes. Yami had never fully forgiven himself for the Orichalcos incident and any reminder of it seemed to hurt him.

Yami continued speaking, "And your friends need you just as much if not more than they've needed me. You've pulled them out of more than a few scrapes, some of which were my doing."

Yugi looked up at his friend. "You know that none of us regret that, right? We'd do it all over again if we needed to."

"I know," Yami's face softened enough for a small smile, "and I am both glad that you did, and that you will not have to again."

Yugi's face fell, despite his best intentions. His bangs fell in front of his eyes as he leaned over the railing, and a few unmistakable tears fell from his eyes into the water below. "We're really going to miss you. I'm really going to miss you."

Yami let go of the railing and put both hands on Yugi's shoulders, turning the duelist to face him. Yugi forced himself to look up into the Pharaoh's face – although, he noticed with some pride, he didn't have to look that far up. "And I you, Aibou. But we've both reached the end of our destiny – or the end of mine." He smiled, "Yours is just beginning. And you are capable of even greater things than you have already done. I don't know what they will be – but you will discover great things I am sure, play more games, and maybe finally talk to Téa about your cru-"

"Yami!" Yugi groaned, and then sighed, "It's not like she cares about me like that, anyway. You'll be leaving at least one broken heart."

Yami gave him a devious smirk. "I'm not so sure about that." Then he sighed, "I will miss you, too, Aibou." He wrapped Yugi up in a tight hug. "More than you can possibly imagine."

"It's for the best, I know," Yugi groaned, "but I'll miss you too."

Yami pulled back from the hug, "Well, I have to finish up my deck – I have my toughest opponent to face tomorrow and I need all the rest I can get to face him."

Yugi smiled and felt Yami give him back control. "Wait!" He said, "Yami, if you need to finish up my deck, won't you need control –"

"Yugi?"

Yugi spun around with so much momentum that the Millennium Puzzle banged against the railing and hit him solidly in the chest. That combined with the fact that Téa was running up to him looking especially beautiful with the moonlight streaming down against her silhouette meant that he was considerably out of breath as Téa ran up to him. "Hey Téa!"

"Hey, I was just wondering –"

Yugi cut her off, sure he knew what she wanted, "Yami just went back to his soul room, let me get him."

"Yami?" Téa looked puzzled. "But I wanted to talk to you."

"Oh," Yugi felt somewhat embarrassed, glad that the night was hiding his blush for the most part, "what's up?"

"I just," Téa blushed a little herself, "I just wanted to see – if you were okay. You've been so quiet since we got back from the temple…"

Yugi shrugged and gave her a smile. "I'm okay."

Téa gave him a very searching look and then smiled in a way that made Yugi's kneecaps dissolve. "If you're sure…but you know you can talk to me if you want. You don't always have to be the strong one. And, good luck tomorrow."

She seemed to hesitate, fighting with herself, and then leaned over to give him a kiss on the cheek. A thouroughly embarrassed but proud flush crossed her face, and she hurriedly said "Good night!" before striding with her long dancer's legs.

Yugi stood in the same place for a long time with his hand touching the warm spot where she'd kissed him. When he finally started walking, zombie-like, to his room, he heard a rich chuckle in the back of his head. "You knew that was coming, didn't you?"

"I might have heard her thoughts just before she arrived, perhaps." Yugi could just hear Yami's smirk across the mind link.

"You could've warned me!"

"Turnabout is fair play, Aibou – that's what you get for setting me up with her as a surprise a year ago."

Yugi grinned and laughed as he walked back to their room. "Go ahead and take control, Yami. I need to get some rest for tomorrow, and so do you."

As the Puzzle flashed and the two switched places, Yugi grinned complacently before settling down on the bed in his soul room. Tomorrow would not be easy, but he would be ready for it. He would give Yami the best that he could.

His friend deserved nothing less.

A/N: Friendship with a hint of Peachshipping at the end, sweet! Hopefully you all enjoyed this story.

Thanks for reading and please review! Reviews make me happy!


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